Arlen Specter: “I am prepared to honor the President's request that we vote on this matter before we adjourn, but I think we ought to…”

“I am prepared to honor the President's request that we vote on this matter before we adjourn, but I think we ought to take the time to debate that need. There are a great many questions to be answered. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of not going after bin Laden, as we had good cause to prior to 9/11. We have learned a bitter lesson from September 11, and we had cause to act in advance. There is another issue I mention briefly before concluding, and that is the difference in language between the 1991 resolution, which says the President is authorized to use the Armed Forces in order to achieve the implementation of Security Council resolutions, and contrast it with the language of the two resolutions which are now pending, the resolution introduced by Senator Lieberman and another resolution introduced by Senators Daschle and Lott which say the President is authorized to use all means he determines to be appropriate.”